1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of regulated pay computer-controlled games, either games of skills or games of chance, and more particularly to the field of certification of the related regulated software.
2. Description of the Prior Art and Related Information
Pay entertainment and gaming systems of the prior art, either of the cash-in or the cash-less type, are seriously limited due to the technical choices made in order to comply with gaming regulatory requirements. Regulators are mainly concerned with funds that may be illegally acquired by individuals as well as with funds that may not be acquired by legitimate winners as a result of flaws, cheating and/or stealing. Game regulators are reluctant to accept state-of-the-art operating systems, multimedia and Internet technologies because of security concerns and tend to favor antiquated technology based upon secrecy rather that “open” state-of-the-art technology. A “Request/Authorize” method for downloadable games has been proposed by another company (IGT's Secure Virtual Network in a Gaming Environment—Publication US2002/0116615 A1) but the method disclosed therein does not cover how to ensure that only certified authorized components may execute.
Gaming certification labs (such as Gaming Laboratories International, Inc. (GLI), for example) require game software manufacturers to provide a complete software compilation environment (software, hardware and tools) such that source code may be compiled to produce the complete executable binary code and to test it. In addition, each revision change to the source code (and/or related file) must be done via a formal contractual submission (including source code files, related files and traceability paperwork) subjected to a stringent procedure in order for the gaming laboratory to identify and track the exact lines of changed source codes in the re-testing process. Due to the broad diversity of software executable environments, software development environments and legacy source code found in the gaming industry (gaming machine microprocessors, operating systems, languages, servers, network topologies, graphics studios, development tools, testing tools, emulators, etc. . . . ), management of source code by the gaming labs is essentially manual, lengthy, error prone and costly.
Source Code Control Systems (SCCS) such as MS-SourceSafe, SourceGear-Vault (www.sourcegear.com), NXN (www.nxn-software.com) and more particularly the not-yet released Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team System (http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/teamsystem) provide means for developing and managing large scale software projects involving numerous geographically dispersed developers and subcontractors. Indeed managing source code with a SCCS requires specialized skills and training, and as each game supplier typically uses a different commercial SCCS or internally developed SCCS, it is beyond the undertaking of a game certification laboratory to have their engineering stall trained in a plurality of SCCS.
In order to successfully leverage on the new emerging downloadable game paradigm (such as disclosed in commonly owned and co-pending application serial number 10/789,975 filed on Feb. 27, 2004 and entitled Dynamic Configuration of a Gaming System, the entire specification of which is included herewith by reference), there is a need to produce a significant number of regulatory certified games and game variants. The game certification labs have not yet anticipated the complexity of the downloadable game paradigm and have not yet issued precise directives relating to the manner in which game software suppliers are to supply the substantial number of source code files and related filed in a rigorously controlled manner. The complexity of managing source code in the certification life cycle of downloadable game software is such that if not satisfactorily addressed, manufacturers may suffer significant delays and cost in having their software certified—which can already take several years, thereby stifling innovation and increasing costs to the gaming industry. A procedure that may be applied for producing certified downloadable game software is described in the above-referenced Ser. No. 10/789,975 application at FIGS. 11-13). The very first step in generating certified games according to this procedure is to initialize a new submission”. In this first step, new source code is transferred from the manufacturer's software development environment into the game certification laboratory integrated certification environment (ICE). Often, this first step is lengthy, painstaking and error prone.
From the foregoing, therefore, it may be appreciated that new and improved methods and systems for submitting new source code from the manufacturer's software development environment to the game certification laboratory are needed.